Things are starting to pick up down at the wetlands and in a few weeks things hopefully
will be pumping. Here are a few from the last couple of afternoons.

The question is what do you prefer for bids inflight?...
Wings up or wings down? On occasion I've heard several nature photographers
debate about this and was wondering your preference. I prefer wings down.

For me wings down is the easiest to pull off so more often than not it looks nicer. Like in your example, the wing up is poorly lit so wing down looks nicer. Especially on dark birds most people get the under wings way under exposed, they are quite difficult to get right. To argue against those that already voiced opinions, why do you all like take off shots with the bird completely outstretched To be honest, I do like them both equally. It is according the type of bird and what the bird is doing.

Good looking set Tim. For me, the debate is wingy. There are a lot of variables that influence what I prefer at any give time - pose, angle of the bird to the camera, are you shooting down on the bird, or up to the bird, bird coloration & pattern, and so on. I wonder if the wings down preference is influenced by what you are used to seeing in print etc, esp for some popular birds, like the bald eagle for instance.

Generally, wings down. BUT it depends on the bird and the situation; with soaring birds it varies, hummers are usually a blur but good both ways, flying waterfowl usually look better either down or braised with a nice side dish.

Very nicely done Tim. In a general sense, probably wings down, but it depends on the bird too - some look better one way or the other, and then it's hard to beat a white bird showing translucent wings. ~ Ron

Cool set Tim, I think I can hear the Terns from my house in Yorba Linda.
2, 3, and 5 are the standouts for me.
In answer to your question... I definitely go both ways, it all depends on how the light is hitting those wings.

Terrific images here, Tim.
#1- Isn't that tern a bit young to be getting married? His head isn't completely black.
Wings up? or down?
Like many things- sometimes I have trouble making up my mind; sometimes I don't .
Charlie